Ready, set...Write!!

I tried to post this first blog of National Novel Writing Month last night but my browser at home refused my cookies for some unknown reason. It always appreciated my cooking in the past but has suddenly taken a dislike to my handiwork in the virtual kitchen.  Therefore, I had to wait until today to begin chronicling my progress with NaNoWriMo 2009. So far I'm doing great. I set myself a lofty goal of 5,000 words yesterday, it being a Sunday, and I surpassed the goal in only about 4 solid hours of writing to end at 5,182 words. This will serve me well because I doubt I will get much writing done tomorrow when I go out with a friend to discuss our writing in other formats.  Though many of the members of my writing group Just Write are participating in NaNoWriMo this year, not all of them are, so I will meet with my friend to talk over our short stories. Mine I am hoping to finish within a week or so, so I can send it off to a contest — the very first I will have ever attempted, though I have long been wishing to submit my work for various literary challenges. It is my hope that this will all me to set a good example for myself so I might continue to share my work with some great publications around the country.

As for my NaNovel, I am happy with what I have written so far.  I'm in what I am calling Chapter 4, though my chapters so far are pretty short, and Chapter 3 is more of a summary than actual prose. My protagonist has just arrived at her vacation destination where she will spend the remainder of the novel. Her arrival at the Grand Tetons in Wyoming has not only delighted her but has also helped my writing sanity considerably. Though I love to write and I think myself pretty darn good at what I do, I often find it difficult to begin a novel. Already I have noticed that I am enjoying this novel far more than I was enjoying last year's NaNovel at any point in the process. For some reason, even during the most exciting parts of that novel, I just could not get into the storyline enough to really have fun with it. This time around is different. Though much of the style is the same — realistic fiction with a mystery and some romance weaved throughout the plot — the atmosphere is very different. That novel took place in New England in a small town laden with snow for much of the story amidst people who didn't really want to be where they were. This novel involves a main character on vacation, both in a place she wants to be and in a place I want to be. As I write I remember how I felt when I first laid eyes upon the glorious mountains that force their way out of the earth in sublime magnificence. The allure of it all has remained with me for the last 6 1/2 years, and I cannot wait to be able to witness them again in person. In the mean time I must settle for looking at photographs and visiting the landscape in my mind, but writing this novel helps exceedingly and makes me very happy in the process.